Four-Time Tour de France Winner in Stable Condition After ‘Serious Training Crash’

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is in stable condition but will undergo surgery after sustaining multiple injuries in a “serious training crash.”

The 40-year-old British cyclist was airlifted to a hospital on Aug. 27 in Southern France following the accident while training with his team Israel–Premier Tech.

“Fortunately, Chris is stable and did not sustain any head injuries,” his team wrote on social media Aug. 28. “However, scans have confirmed a pneumothorax [collapsed lung], five broken ribs, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture, for which he will undergo surgery this afternoon.”

What led to the accident near the city of Toulon remains unclear. No other cyclists were involved.

The two-time Olympic medalist was conscious and speaking following the crash, according to ESPN, which cited the French newspaper L’Equipe. Froome’s team said further updates on his condition following surgery will be provided.

Froome signed a five-year contract with Israel–Premier Tech at the start of the 2021 season and is expected to miss the remainder of his campaign due to his injuries.

Oscar Guerrero, the Spanish sports director of the team, previously referred to Froome as a champion “on and off the bike.”

“Chris is [a champion] as a leader and a teammate, particularly as a mentor for the young guys,” Guerrero said. “When you see the hours of training, the altitude camps, everything he does is at the top level. He is a real champion.”

This isn’t Froome’s first major training crash. In 2019, during the Critérium du Dauphiné, an annual eight-day cycling road race held in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France, Froome broke his femur, elbow, and ribs after colliding with a wall.

Froome was left in the intensive care unit and underwent surgery at the time. He was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the race and missed out on the Tour de France event that year.

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Froome is considered one of the most decorated cyclists in history, with 46 total professional wins and 21 Grand Tours, including the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and  Vuelta a España.

He earned his first Tour de France title in 2013, before going on to secure three more victories in a row from 2015 to 2017.

Froome won the bronze medal twice during road time trials at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships.

In 2015, he was also named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) after being recognized for his services to the cycling community.